Subaru History: the Subaru 360 Minicar

The Subaru 360 minicar was released on March 3, 1958. At the time, Japanese automakers had been progressing towards developing smaller "people's cars" as advocated by the government in Japan.

Since Subaru was an experienced aircraft manufacturing company, it took to the challenge of building a small, affordable vehicle that would still maintain good performance. The Subaru 360 was born from this challenge as a four-passenger, four-wheel minicar that ended up becoming a milestone in Japan's automobile history.

The Subaru 360 was given the nickname "Ladybird" because of its unique shape, and was extremely popular for over a decade before its production came to a close in 1970.

Subaru has certainly continued progressing since the Subaru 360 minicar, with a full model line of IIHS Top Safety Picks due to Subaru's advanced safety design, as well as several other distinguishing awards and accolades. Check out our new Subaru inventory here!


All information and images via Subaru Global